Personal Narrative: Living With Type One Diabetes

I am 18 years old now, 8 years since my diagnosis, and I have learned many things from encountering diabetes. I balance what I eat, with an occasional sweet to satisfy my sweet tooth. I’ve learned management. I balance school, sports, and other extracurricular activities with my

Diabetes, Diabetes Mellitus, is a chronic illness this means that it has no cure and the symptoms persist over a long period of time. This illness is a result of an imbalance of hormones, insulin, produced in the pancreas. Insulin plays an important role in how the body uses food. Insulin enables the cells in the bloodstream to absorb and use glucose for fuel. If the pancreas produces too little or no insulin or if the insulin doesn’t work properly the person may become diabetic. Therefore, diabetics are not able to properly convert food into fuels needed by the body to function, which can seriously lead to physical consequences.

I know that you are trying to help, but I need you to know that my life is much more complicated than the aspects that I let you see. Diabetes can be a very degenerative disease. Insulin helps us survive, but it doesn’t cure us. If we don’t live the textbook (nearly impossible, saintly) life of a diabetic, the consequences can be devastating. One-third of our lives could be cut-off. We can lose circulation in our feet and hands. Our organs can slowly corrode, and blindness is an imminent dread for 1 in 10 diabetics who don’t keep their blood-sugar under constant control.

When I was five years old, I was diagnosed with type one diabetes. It was 11 years ago on New Year’s Eve, and I was celebrating the holiday by consuming an immense amount of sugar. My mother, who already had two other young children with diabetes, immediately recognized that I was suffering from the symptoms of hyperglycemia. After I was diagnosed, I was given a book and a bear. The book was about how the other kids would react to my diagnosis, and the bear was covered in colourful patches that corresponded to the areas on my own body that I could give my insulin injections.

1. We see a good explanation of what happens in the body in Hubbard (2017) where it reports that inside the pancreas the immune system attacks and destroys the beta cells, the cells that produce insulin.

Uncontrolled diabetes can affect nearly every organ of the body; of which, heart disease and kidney failure are most commonly impacted. Known as diabetes mellitus, a collective term for various blood abnormalities, the term diabetes refers to either a scarcity of insulin in the body or the body’s inability to accept insulin. Though the symptoms of diabetes are manageable, many are unaware as to having it. According to the CDC report “2011 Diabetes Fact Sheet,” approximately 6 million people in the United States have undiagnosed diabetes. Undetected, diabetes can become deadly. In a recent World Health Organization report “Diabetes Action Now: An Initiative of the World Health Organization and the International Diabetes Federation,” it

My life wouldn’t be considered normal. My parents were immigrants from Pakistan trying to create a better life for them and their children, and they’re the only ones from their families to move to America. They moved from New York, to Richardson, and lastly to Rockwall, Texas in 2005. I was born in 2000 but when events in my life truly started shaping me was in the summer of 2004.

For this assignment, I interviewed a thirty-two year old African American male with type-one diabetes. I learned having this particular disease is difficult to manage; nutritious eating, exercise, watching their disorder, taking medication and reducing their risk for problems are usually part of your their day-to-day routine. It seems that all of this is pretty overwhelming and there are two main types of diabetes (type-one and type-two). This particular illness distresses your body’s capability to generate or use insulin. Insulin is a hormone. When your body turns the food you eat into energy, it’s usually referred to as glucose or sugar. If you produce little or no insulin, or are insulin resistant, too much sugar rests in your blood. Blood glucose levels are greater than standard for individuals with diabetes. The cause of diabetes is unknown. Genetics, diet, obesity and lack of exercise may play a role in developing diabetes, specifically in cases of type-two diabetes.

Instead of just eating when I wanted, I had to poke my finger and then get a shot. Now, instead of shots every time I eat, I only needs shots every three days. I think that diabetes has changed me in many ways. It definitely made me a stronger person. I joined groups on Facebook with other diabetics, and even joined a support group in a local town. Being with other people who were like me, made me feel like I was the same after that. Being Type 1 Diabetic has made me a stronger, more independent, and more confident person overall. Having to deal with all of the highs and lows of diabetes has shown me that sometimes I need to work hard to receive good results. Every three months I get a blood test of my average blood sugar for the last three months. That number helps keep me in line, and I need to put all of my effort into improving my health. One key thing that effects blood sugars is stress. That has had a big impact on my life, because I don’t chose when I’m stressed, I just am. That makes me realize that I can’t control everything in my life, but I need to do my best that I can

The individual I chose to observe is my cousin who is a 24-year-old male who was diagnosed with type1 diabetes since the age of 14. But before being diagnosed with type1 diabetes my cousin was healthy teenager that would eat just like any other teenager, but his life drastically change right away after being diagnosed with type1 diabetes. He now suffers from weight lost, nausea, body pain, and is insulin dependent. Being insulin dependent was one of the biggest changes in his life, because he had no idea what was occurring to his body and was not inform about diabetes. It took a while for my cousin to get used to the changes that were occurring to him as a teenager, but now that he is older and cautious about his disability, he lives a healthy

I, a normal seven year old boy, was about to have my life changed forever. At first I didn’t realize how my life was being dramatically altered. I thought that the doctors would give me medicine, like they usually do, and I’ll continue my life as always. However, Diabetes is much more complicated. I was shocked to discover that for the rest of my life I had to receive shots and count these, previously unknown, sugars called Carbohydrates, which determines how big the shot will be.

When most people look at me, they probably don't realize that every day I deal with type one diabetes. Which, is rather ironic considering that diabetes is a vast part of my life. Not a day goes by where I can just stop caring about my blood sugars or the carbohydrates in the foods I eat, even though doing so would be much easier.

There is something in the world that people are crazy for. It’s something that they just couldn’t live without and they always want more of it. That is the sweet taste of sugar. Although that sweet taste that everyone loves can’t be devoured by every person. The people that I am talking about is the people that are diabetics. Some diabetics can’t have any sugar or if they can have some it is very little. Imagine what you would do having to watching every little thing that you eat. That’s what diabetics have to do to survive. I am going to tell you about the different types of diabetes, how diabetics take cares of themselves,

Diabetes is a major problem in our society today. Many people have heard about the disease; however, they do not know too much about its complications. Diabetes is a chronic, progressive and lifelong condition that affects the body’s ability to use the energy found in food (WebMD, 2016). Many new cases are confirmed every year and unfortunately, many go undiagnosed for years. Diabetes is a serious disease and need to be taking seriously. The disease can lead to many other health problems such as blindness, nerve damage and kidney diseases. The more the community understand and made aware of the seriousness of the disease, the better it can be control and or prevented.

Handley, J., Pullon, S., & Gifford, H. (2010). Living with type 2 diabetes: 'Putting the person in